25 Days
by Kiba94
Summary: Christmas season is in the air, and of course, Dissidia characters have got to be on with it. A 25 day story till Christmas around themes of the holiday. COMPLETE.
1. Prologue: Cosmos and Light

**25 Days – Prologue (Light)**

"Light!" Cosmos called for her warrior—well, ex-warrior, at least. After the thirteenth cycle, Cosmos and Chaos had decided to settle their differences, opening up a passageway between the worlds, allowing many of their previous fighters to interact. As the aforementioned warrior stepped into the goddess' room, he bowed respectfully.

"Yes, Cosmos?"

"Do you know what today is?" He pondered for a second.

"November 30th." He stated.

"And do you know what happens tomorrow, in December?" Again, the man hesitated.

"Your…birthday?"

"Yes, and…" As he didn't answer, she filled in. "It's also going to be Christmas in a little while."

"Oh. Yes." Light brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Christmas."

"Now, Light, since this is everyone's first Christmas together, I expect this to be a good affair, and as you are the most mature…" He swelled with pride. "I'm appointing you to make this a wonderful Christmas season!" She beamed. He did as well.

He nodded curtly, and she rewarded him with another immaculate smile. As he stepped out the doorway, she called, "Don't forget to get presents for Chaos' side, too! They're very fond of gifts!" Again, Light waved, looking proud. But when he turned the corner, he put his hand to his head, the only thought in his mind being, _How exactly _do_ you make a good Christmas season?_


	2. Day One: Trees

**25 Days (Light) – Trees**

"We're buying a Christmas tree already?" Garland asked me. I nodded, simply glancing around, looking for a tree. Pointing at a sapling, I asked him.

"Like this?" He shook his head.

"Er…no. It's supposed to be a pine tree." I promptly strode over to the pine tree outside the shop and uprooted it. "Hey, no!" He roared, pushing the tree back into the ground. "You're supposed to buy them like this!" Garland grabbed my hand and led me back into the shop, pointing at the pine trees in there.

Zidane, the blonde genome popped in. "Hey, you guys! You find the trees alrea—wow!" His eyes glittered as he ran to the large trees. "I want this one!" Garland hit him over the head. "Owwwww! What was that for?"

"It's twelve feet, Zidane."

"Can't tell me what to do, old geezer." Zidane rubbed his head bitterly. Meanwhile, I decided to look at the smaller ones.

"Four feet." Zidane shook his head angrily.

"That's like, shorter than me!" He punched my shoulder. "Twelve feet or nothing!"

Garland stepped in. "No, we'll just get a six foot tree."

"Twelve feet!"

"Six feet!"

"Twelve feet!"

"Four feet?" I asked. Zidane glared at me.

"You know, maybe we should ask Exdeath." Garland added.

"He's like, a tree, right?" Zidane queried. I merely nodded.

Exdeath chuckled throatily. "Hwa hwa hwa! You want a tree?" He asked merrily. He was obviously in high spirits.

"Yes, but we aren't agreeing on heights." I supplied. He looked as thoughtful as someone with full body armor could get, then nodded.

"You have no need for a tree!" He nodded again. "For all trees are meaningless under my incredible treedom!" The genome wagged his tail peevishly.

"So we don't get a tree?" The blonde looked disappointed. "This sucks." Garland tried uselessly to comfort the short youth. Angrily, he kicked Exdeath's armor, leaving quite a sizable dent in his leg. Bellowing in pain, he whacked Zidane. "Ouch, is today 'Hurt Zidane Day'?" He pouted. "I want a real Christmas tree!" Exdeath glared (as only an angry tree can.)

"You want a real tree? So be it!" He thundered, raising his hands high above his head.

"You got Exdeath as our Christmas tree?" Bartz asked.

"Yes. He makes quite a good one, doesn't he?" I tilted my head and looked over him, decked out in green with red and white ribbons.

"I have to say, it's actually pretty cool!" Zidane exclaimed, dancing around the tree mage. Bartz joined along with him, beaming happily.

I guess it was a good start to Christmas after all.

_A/N: Bleccch, writing as WoL is super hard! This was pretty much just a Zidane fest. Oh well. I'm not particularly fond of this passage, but it's a decent try, I guess._


	3. Day Two: Ornaments

**25 Days (Frioniel) – Ornaments**

"Come on, Frioniel, I want to go now!" Tidus complained, hopping up and down. "Let's buy red ones! And green ones! And…uh, blue ones!" He grabbed my hand, swinging it back and forth like an impatient child. "Let's go shopping, let's go shopping!"

"Calm down, Tidus. We've still got to tidy up the—!"

"No, I wanna go now! We can clean later!" He jumped up and down, simultaneously trying to grab my keys. "Come onnnnnnn!"

"Alright, alright." I complied. "Let's go buy some ornaments."

"Yes!"

"Look, here's a nice one!" The blonde brandished a garish ornament, displaying an abominable snowman hugging a reindeer. "Let's get this." He smiled, setting it triumphantly into the cart.

"Tidus, that's a little…" I couldn't think of any nice words to say. "Colorful."

"Well, Christmas can be colorful, can't it?" He plucked another from the shelf, eyeing it suspiciously. I actually thought it was quite classy, but he dropped it unceremoniously. "Too plain." He stuck his tongue out. While Tidus was marching over to the next shelves, I picked up the set that he had rejected and quietly placed it into the cart.

The youth obviously had a liking for all colorful ornaments, and took as many as he could find, dumping them into the cart as gently as one so rowdy could manage. "We're done here!" The blue eyed boy announced.

"Tidus, this is a little too much."

"Not really."

"Yes really, we need to put about…" I pondered. "Eighteen of these back."

"That's like, all of them!"

"Not really." I mimicked him. He shot me a bit of a glare, but grinned after. A bit deviously, if I may mention.

Picking up the ones I had chosen, he put them all in a shelf to the side. "There we go, about eighteen, huh?" I shook my head.

"No, no, no Tidus. Not to put it meanly, but I think the ones we should really get rid of are yours." He looked almost astonished.

"Mine are beautiful!" He exclaimed with gusto, shoving it in my face. "Look!" Yes, although it was pressed up to my face, I could faintly make out a red reindeer prancing through the snow.

"Um, a little tasteless, if I may add."

"Tasteless? I think the word you're looking for is _wonderful!_" He replied.

"Come on. Do you really think that this will look good?"

"Yes." It was like he had no sense of color coordination.

"Look, I'll just put them back for you." I selected a particularly gaudy one, (one with two red and green doves circling Santa Claus, who in turn, had eight reindeer around him) and put it almost smugly onto the shelf. "There we go!"

"Frioniel…" He moped. "Don't."

"Tidus. Really." I responded.

"Both of you…" Cecil stepped over. "You have to agree on this."

"He said my decorations were ugly!" Tidus pointed accusingly at me.

"Not exactly like that!" I nearly pleaded, trying hard not to look like the bad guy. "It's just that the coordination would really look weird."

"And you're arguing over that?" Cecil chuckled. "I'm sure you can figure this out. Frioniel, Tidus, you know quarreling isn't very nice." He winked at me. "And Santa won't give you any presents if you don't act nice." Tidus's mouth opened, shocked.

"Hey, I've been good for most of the year!" He exclaimed childishly. I had to stifle a chuckle—he was so innocent. "Frioniel!' He turned abruptly towards me. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." I ruffled his hair affectionately. It wasn't easy to stay mad at him.

"Well, now." Our comrade beamed. "You can certainly buy both of those ornament sets. I'll lend you some extra gil." Cecil handed us some, nodding happily. Then he strode off, probably to find some Christmas gifts for his brother.

"Wow! I bet Cecil will get lots of presents on Christmas." Tidus said wistfully. "Don't you think?"

"He's a good guy." I agreed.

"Hey, Frioniel, race you to the counter!" He shouted, grabbing his ornaments and speeding over. And just this once, I let myself become a child again, rolling the cart faster and faster, laughing out loud.

_A/N: Whoa, these are harder to write than I thought. I'm so used to non-themed ones. ;^;. But they're fun to write. Not exactly my best piece of work, though._

_Does anyone else feel like Tidus is a Pinoy? Maybe, you know, just a little? Cause, I mean, he sounds like one, and he also seems like the guy who takes things in his cart that he doesn't need and puts them in random places. I mean, in Filipino stores, you always see stuff in weird places, because Filipinos are very fond of doing that (at least in my experience.)_


	4. Day Three: Dilemma

**25 Days – Dilemma (Luneth)**

"I have no clue what to get her." I slumped down, dejectedly searching through the pile of things I had amassed.

"Well, maybe you should ask." Light suggested. "I asked Cosmos. She told me she enjoyed jewelry. So I bought her a necklace."

"Terra probably doesn't like jewelry." I glanced at him.

"Like I said, ask."

"Terra?" My voice quavered as she turned around. "Uh, what do you…like?"

She answered without exactly noticing my voice changes. "Oh, I love moogles, and stuffed animals, chocobos, soft things…" Terra continued on, hopefully not noticing the fact I was trying to copy it down. "But mostly moogles." She beamed. I smiled back the best I could.

"Thanks, then." I replied awkwardly, before dashing away.

At the store, I decided that the best thing would be to buy her several items. So I grabbed as many moogle plushies as I could, chocobo pillows, blankets, you name it.

"You _sure_ you want to buy these?" The cashier glanced at all the things I had stacked upon the counter.

"Yeah! They're for my…" I paused. "Girlfriend."

She smiled. "Oh, I wish my boyfriend would do that. That's so sweet!" She ran them over the scanner. "That's 8000 gil." For a second, I was a little worried, but I mean, anything for Terra, right?

I handed over the money, thinking to myself, _Well, the look on her face will be completely worth it._

_A/N: Lots of writing stuff. I'm having lots of fun._

_This one was pretty short, but I suppose that the length is going to vary quite a bit._


	5. Day Four: A Partridge in a Pear Tree

**25 Days – Partridge in a Pear Tree (Cecil)**

"And a partridge in a pear tree." I finished. "That's the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' song. I used to sing it to my friends. Like Palom and Porom." Tidus clapped happily.

"Hey, but what's a partridge, anyways? Some sort of an umbrella?" He looked pensive. I patted his head, looking over at Cloud and Frioniel.

"You guys know what a partridge is, right?" Cloud looked confused as well, but Frioniel nodded.

"Yes. It's a sort of bird." He responded.

"But how does it fit in a tree?" Cloud asked, astonished.

"Uh, well, it's about this big." I gestured, trying to approximate the size. Tidus laughed.

"Oh, so it's _not_ the size of a chocobo?" The youth wondered aloud. "Weird. The only other birds I ever saw were seagulls. Back in Zanarkand, they used to fly right into the windows, even when we had Christmas lights up! Man, those times were funny. Dad hung up a string of lights and a seagull just whacked straight into it! Whoo, that was hilarious!"

"How were your Christmases, Tidus?" The silverette asked. Tidus looked wistful.

"Well, we would hang up lights, just like I said. Then, there would be lots and lots of dancing and singing. Caroling in the streets, people laughing everywhere, and even my mom and dad, just waltzing around. We used to play blitzball, of course, and the stadium would have a few Christmas shows, where at the end, we shot up fireworks. It was great." He leaned back. "But I would give all that up to be with you guys! Course, I wouldn't mind having Yuna and Wakka over every so often."

Cloud looked at Tidus. "For me, Christmas wasn't really celebrated. But when I went to Gongaga with Zack, everybody was happy. Smiling and talking. About gifts for each other, you know? And…well, I went back up to Nibelheim, too. With Aerith and Tifa. And Zack, too. It was a good Christmas there. Everyone was putting up trees and stuff. Decorating their houses with pine needles and wreaths." His mako-eyes looked up at the stars. "Yeah. I miss Zack and Aerith a lot. I miss Tifa, too, but she could always come here. Some time."

Frioniel chuckled. "Since everyone's sharing, I guess I'll share, too. It was snowing, where I was staying. Salamand. We made snowmen, Guy, Maria and I. Guy was always trying to catch snowflakes. And I remember, once, Gordon visited. And he was so scared of our snowman! He thought it was a monster!" Frioniel laughed, as did Tidus. Cloud allowed himself a smile.

"What about you, Cecil?" Cloud asked. I beamed.

"I used to go caroling with Rosa and Theodor. We were trying to 'spread Christmas cheer', but Theodor wasn't exactly an amazing singer. He got better, of course, but when we were singing once, a man bolted out of his house. He asked if someone had been hurt. And that was exactly after Theodor finished his solo!" I chortled, remembering the moment very well. "All the same, I don't believe I would go back to those times, when I can spend time with you." I closed my eyes, thinking of all my friends.

And of course, thinking of how important they were. Especially during Christmas.

_A/N: I CAN'T WAIT TO WRITE BARTZ'S. Just saying._

_I know, I know, Nibelheim and Gongaga were probably destroyed before Cloud and his buddies got together, but the main theme of this is 'friendship.' OK? OK. Cool._


	6. Day Five: Snowmen

**25 Days – Snowmen (Bartz)**

I hummed a little tune as I rolled snow up into a pile, making sure it was neat, before I moved on to rolling the next one.

"Hey, Bartz, what'cha doin'?" Zidane asked happily. I put the other pile of snow on the first one.

"Making a snowman." I replied. He looked questioningly at it.

"Doesn't look much like a man." He swung his tail back and forth, eyeing it a little critically.

"Well, you know, it's supposed to be Squall." I stepped back and looked at it. Truth to be told, it was a little lopsided, but then again, no one was perfect.

"Hey, can I help?" Zidane snapped me out of my reverie.

"No. Nah, just kidding. Of course you can!" I elbowed him lightly. "Duh, Zidane, you're my best buddy. What did you think?" Zidane hopped over.

"Alright!" His tail swished happily up into the air. "So, what do I do?"

"Well, you get coal."

"Huh?"

"You know, for the eyes!" I picked up another batch of snow and placed it on the top.

"Oh, so like this." Zidane popped a coal onto its face, placing the other one next to it.

"Squall's eyes are farther apart."

"Like…this?"

"Yeah, that's good."

Eventually, we had to finish up the hair.

"Well, what do we use?"

Zidane's eyes got a glint in them. "Cut off Squall's actual hair?"

"That's not very nice." I said, knowing that I probably would have come up with that idea myself.

"I know, but…"

"We have to use something from around here." Zidane picked up a stick.

"These?"

"Well, yeah, I guess, Squall's hair is rather brown…"

"And what about his scar?"

"Can't forget that!" We placed another stick on his face, then stepped back—only to bump into Squall.

"Who's this?" He asked cynically.

"You!" We chirped back. He stared at it, a little confused.

"Really?"

"Uh-huh." Again, he paused momentarily.

"It's not exactly accurate."

"What? How come?" I asked. He took off his jacket and placed it around the snowman.

"There we go." He started rolling snow up next to it.

"Huh?" Squall turned to look at us.

"Aren't you going to help me make some more?" For a second, I thought I saw him smile. "Come on, we gotta make you guys, too."

"Ahah, that's right!" We joined in.

And when we had finally finished, it was all three of us, standing side by side.

_A/N: Oh, I was just waiting to write this! 589 is so adorable!_

_I have no clue what to do for Terra._


	7. Day Six: Surprise

**25 Days – Surprise**

I twisted my hair frantically. "I don't know what to do!" Frioniel looked apologetically at me.

"You aren't sure of what to give him?" Carefully, Frioniel wrapped his present for Cecil (a hat), glancing at me.

"Yes, I've already made things for Bartz, Zidane, and Tidus…" I counted quietly. "And Squall and Cloud. Also, you, of course, and Cecil." I looked at the stuffed lion I made for Squall, wrapping it.

"Why are all of them stuffed animals?" The silver haired man picked up the dolphin I had sowed for Tidus.

"Well, I thought they'd like them. Um, that's the reason why I'm having a problem." I fiddled with my thread. "I don't know what to sow for Luneth."

Frioniel pondered for a second. "Well…" He grinned. "I know he likes you a lot."

"H-huh?" I felt my face get red. "What do you mean by that?"

"He loves you." Frioniel began to wrap Bartz's gift (a chocobo ornament), smiling. "I've never seen someone so in love as he is."

"Oh." We worked in silence.

Eventually, I began to sow a red dress, a figure, hair, and button eyes.

I hoped that he liked me a lot.


	8. Day Seven: Christmas Music in the City

**25 Days – Christmas Music in the City (Cloud)**

The melodies played sweetly through the air, lilting throughout the streets. "Tell me, why are we here again?" Tidus asked, strolling alongside me.

"Present buying." I said plainly, listening to the music.

"Oh." Tidus shuffled his feet. "Right. Who are you buying for?"

"Squall." I responded. "He's the one who I'm most confused about."

"I'm buying for Frioniel. And…uh, same here." He toyed with his gloves. "I want it to be special." We stopped in front of a stall. I had my head turned, before I heard someone speak.

"Will you buy anything, or are you here to gawk?" It sounded like Aerith.

"Sorry." I said, looking over my shoulder. I was actually _expecting_ Aerith for a little, but found it to be a girl with pink hair. Her expression was serious.

"So, will you get something?" She asked, looking at Tidus. "Hey, you break it, you buy it." Tidus yelped a little and set down the keychain he was playing with.

"Sorry." He replied with an air of familiarity. She then turned her icy gaze on me.

"Buying anything?"

"Y—yeah." I was a little intimidated, but I picked up a lion charm, glancing at the price tag. It was relatively cheap, so I decided to buy it.

"A lion? Is it for you, or someone else?" She asked warmly, counting out the change.

"It's for Squall." Tidus piped in. "Hey, I didn't introduce you guys yet, huh? Lightning, that's Cloud. Cloud, Lightning. Hah, it goes together!" Tidus giggled. "Lightning comes from Clouds!"

"We get it." Lightning said sternly. "Anyways, here's your lion charm. For Squall or whatever."

"Thanks." I answered. Tidus, after much deliberation, purchased a rose charm.

"I'll make something else, too!" He said happily. We stood for a while after, Tidus trying to catch snow on his tongue and me, chatting quietly with Lightning.

"Isn't this a nice song?" She asked, tossing her hair lightly. "Christmas time in the city. Me and Serah, we used to listen to this a lot on the radio." Serah was her sister from her world. "I miss seeing her nowadays. She's busy. But she comes back for the holidays." Suddenly, she looked slightly abashed. "Sorry. Do you get it, though?"

"Yeah." I said, thinking of Aerith again, thinking of Yuffie, Zack, and Tifa. "Yeah, I do get it."

We both mused quietly upon the people close to us, listening to the sounds of music tolling through the air.


	9. Day Eight: Catch Snow

**25 Days – Catch Snow (Squall)**

Very gently, it had begun to snow over the soft landscape. With nobody watching, I stuck out my tongue hesitantly and let the snow fall upon it. The cooling sensation they made in the warmth of my mouth was nostalgic, so I began to catch more, delicately, enjoying the indulgent feelings; unaware of the person who had neared me.

"Squall?" Cloud asked. He tugged on the ends of his scarf. "What are you doing?"

"Catching snow."

"Funny way to do it." He laughed quietly. The light pinpricks of snow had snowflakes mingling in with them, tantalizing and fragile. The blonde shut my mouth with a quick but soft movement. "Back in Nibelheim, we used to catch snowflakes." He put his hands out, letting it fall gracefully into his outstretched palms. It stayed for a second, then melted. "We used to see how long we could hold them without them melting." He smiled fondly, no doubt remembering his town. I stretched out my hands as well, feeling snow melting into my gloves. We stood silently for a bit, feeling the snowflakes turn to water in our hands.

"How about you try sticking your tongue out?"

"That's silly."

"Not really." I stuck mine out. "Like that, see?"

He stuck his out, and feeling snow land upon it, withdrew it quickly. "Cold." He commented tersely. Pondering for a second, he put his tongue out again.

I laughed a little, before grabbing his hand. "What about snow angels? You ever make those?"

His face flushed a bright red—I couldn't tell what it was from. "Uh-huh." He flopped down in the snow, pulling me down with him.

After we had made a fair amount of snow angels, he turned his bright mako-eyes at me. "The snow is really pretty, huh?"

"Not as pretty as some." I replied, gazing into his stark blue eyes. "But yes, I admit. The snow is beautiful."

Suddenly, the clouds parted to reveal a starry night sky.

_A/N: I know, I know. Squall isn't _that_ fun. Oh well. I'm rather fond of Squall x Cloud stuff, so I decided to slip an implication in. Take it as you wish~_


	10. Day Nine: Mall Santa

**25 Days – Mall Santa (Zidane)**

"Zidane!" Bartz yelled, waving his hands frantically. "Over here! Look here!" I jogged over, trying to keep my hands from freezing. "Check it out, man! A real live—"

"Santa Claus!" I yipped, starting to speed over.

"What I was gonna say was 'a real live chocobo right here in the mall' but—hey, it is Santa!" He whooped and followed closely.

"Wow, it's really him."

"Yeah, beard and everything."

"This is unreal, dude."

"I know." We continued to stare at the man, child perched on knee.

"Should we fall in line?" I asked.

"Totally! I haven't seen him since I was like, three!" Bartz rushed over to the line.

"Can't we just like, you know, push through?"

"That's not fair to all the kids."

"I'm practically a kid!" I pouted, standing in place.

Eventually, we got up to our idol and I hopped into his lap happily. "Santa!" He looked kind of surprised. I started bouncing up and down. "OK. So, what I want this Christmas is—" I began listing things off quickly. Bartz came up next to Santa.

"Hey, can we take a picture?" Santa just nodded, while I continued to rattle off my wishlist.

"Man, Santa." I sighed. "That was cool, to see him and all."

"Yep." Bartz kept looking at all the chocobo decorations. "These are adorable."

"Hey, isn't that Santa?"

"Yep." Bartz responded monotone. "That's Santa."

"No, I mean, the guy leaning up against the wall."

"What?" He turned around. "Hey, Santa." The man turned around. "Aren't you supposed to be, like, you know, taking people's wishes and stuff?"

"Er…no. It's not my shift anymore."

"Shift?" I asked, confused.

"Y'know. The one that we usually…" He trailed off. I felt disappointed, looking up at him.

"What, so you were just pretending?"

"Well, that's what we do." Seeing me angry, he tried to explain. "See, the thing is, we like to help people feel the spirit of Christmas! Especially kids. It helps them enjoy it."

"Pretending to be someone you're not?" I said disdainfully.

"If it helps people celebrate, yeah." He checked his watch. "Oops. I gotta get going. My kids…" He walked away.

"I think he had a point."

"Huh?"

"You know. Helping people celebrate…that's a nice thing to do."

I paused. "That's absolutely right."

"You think this'll work?"

"Yeah, this will totally work." I pushed my hat a little.

"Don't you think _you_ should have been the reindeer? Maybe you could've been an elf."

"Shush up! I like being Santa!"

"OK, OK." We kicked open the door. "SPECIAL GREETING FROM SANTA AND HIS REINDEER!" We yelled together.

Squall turned to see us, a grin slowly spreading over his face. "Really, you guys?"

"Hey, we're cool!"

"Your outfits need some work." He got up, pulling us both into the doorway. "OK. I have no clue what's going on. But I'll be glad to help as long as it doesn't involve any death or explosions."

"Well…"

"Don't get any ideas."

"Come on!"

_A/N: Woop. This one was hard to write for some reason._


	11. Day Ten: All I Want For Christmas

**25 Days – All I Want for Christmas (Tidus)**

"So, what _do _you want?" Zidane asked jingling the bells he had tied onto his tail. Bartz adjusted the antlers he had on his head. Squall waited, shuffling his feet.

"Well, you know. There's like, a wishlist." I answered. "Like this." I pushed the piece of paper into his face. "There! See? That's what I want."

"Whoa. Uh…" Squall took a hold of my list, scanning through it. "This is huge."

"Yep. I want to have lots and lots of presents this year!" I beamed. "I mean, who doesn't want Absolute Unreal! That's like, the best video game this year!"

"It's like, super expensive." Bartz chimed in.

"So?" I retorted. "Doesn't Santa give things to good people? I've been like, amazingly good this year! I didn't even injure Frioniel on April Fool's! I didn't even steal Cloud's sword and throw it around on New Year's."

"That was you?" Bartz asked. "I thought that Cloud was just _really_ drunk."

"Uh, no." I sheepishly gestured. "That was me."

"Ohhh." Zidane glared at me, no doubt remembering the fact that I had nearly hit his tail that time.

"ANYWAYS!" I announced. "So, Absolute Unreal, Elegy of the Hellhound, Predicament Main, Moogle's Chamber, a new blitzball—Blitzball X, Hustle Competitor figurines, Magical Expedition, FortressMania Silver Edition…" I trailed off.

"Tidus, that's an awful lot of stuff. Don't you think that's kind of selfish?" Squall asked, obviously disconcerted by the huge amount of items I had listed.

"Nope." I replied happily. "Isn't selfish when you only think of yourself?"

Squall and Zidane looked at each other. Clearly exasperated, Squall put down the list.

"OK, Santa has a factory up in the North Pole. Right?" I nodded. "And there are a lot of people in the world."

"Uh-huh."

"The thing is, lots of people deserve presents. And if you ask for a lot of stuff, other people don't get anything."

"Isn't Santa magical, though? Doesn't that mean, like, no matter what, he can give everyone everything?"

"…" Squall was speechless. "OK. Zidane, your turn."

"Me? Hey, uh, Bartz."

"Huh?"

"Can you help?" They huddled into a corner, whispering feverishly. Bartz came back with a smile.

"Alright! So, what's Christmas about?"

"Presents?"

"Er, no. Christmas is about friendship and happiness, and peace on earth and stuff." Zidane said.

"Oh, yeah. That too."

"I mean, you buy Christmas presents for people—but it's because you want to show them how much you care about them! And, if Christmas is about goodwill, too, that means that you've gotta be goodwilled, and consider the real meaning of Christmas." Bartz explained.

I pondered for a second. "Give me that list for a sec." Zidane handed the large paper to me. I ripped it in half, turned it over, and wrote.

"What are you writing?" Squall asked.

"My new wishlist."

**~Christmas Wishlist~**

_This year, what I want is for all my friends to be happy._

_A/N: This one was weirdly difficult to write, even though it was Tidus, who I usually write with ease._

_This is short, for a 58910 chapter. Usually, they have a lot of dialogue, so I was thinking that they would have a long one. Oh well. Probably, the next one I write will be longer._

_Did anyone catch all the references I made? Absolute Unreal – Final Fantasy, Elegy of the Hellhound – Dirge of Cerberus, Predicament Main – Crisis Core, Moogle's Chamber – Chocobo's Dungeon, Hustle Competitor – Speed Racer, Magical Expedition – Mystic Quest, FortressMania – Castlevania._

_Thank you, to __**InhaledCorn, Altar Shead**__, and __**KHAndTwilightFan15 **__for the kind reviews! I love reviews, so don't be afraid to write some!_

_Even though these first ten days, I wrote for the Warriors of Cosmos, I think I'll write merged fanfics now. Random choice, I guess_

_If anyone finds any typos, please tell me! Thank you for sticking with me so far!_


	12. Day Eleven: Candy Cane

**25 Days – Candy Canes (Cloud)**

"So, how do you eat these things?" Bartz asked, leaning backwards. "I mean, they're nice looking and all, but, how are you supposed to eat them?"

"Uh, you put it in your mouth?" I answered. "It's not that difficult."

"No, I mean, it's curved at the end, so what are you supposed to do about that?" He poked it tentatively.

"You just put them in your mouth and crunch 'em." I put the candy cane in my mouth and chomped loudly. "Like that."

Bartz tried. "Ow."

"Did you crack your tooth?" Tidus asked, glancing at him.

"I dunno, maybe."

"No you didn't." I retorted. "You're not even bleeding."

The brunette stuck his finger in his mouth. "You're right."

"See?" I chewed the rest of my candy cane, while reaching for another.

"How did you eat yours so fast?" Tidus lolled on the couch, languorously stretching. "I didn't even finish off the stripes on mine."

"You take time to lick off the stripes?" I laughed a little. "Really?"

"Well, I mean, what are the stripes for?"

"Decoration." Bartz said, trying to bite his again. "Ooh, I did it."

"Good job, Bartz." I bit down on the curved part of my candy cane. "Probably, I mean, they look pretty lame without stripes."

"No, there's gotta be some sort of purpose." Tidus said, turning the candy cane over as if it would reveal some sort of secret.

"Uh, isn't there some sort of thing about it being Jesus or something?" Bartz asked. "Like, some candy dude in India made it to honor Jesus. That's what I heard."

"Wasn't that disproved?" I asked.

"Well, I heard it. I'm not saying it's the truth, but it's a nice reminder for Christians and stuff." Bartz chewed on his candy thoughtfully. "I also heard that candy canes were made by the devil."

"What? For real?" Tidus scanned his candy cane ponderingly. "So like, if I eat this, I'm demon spawn?"

"You were demon spawn to begin with." I joked. "After all, your dad _is_ Jecht." Bartz burst out laughing, and after a short while, Tidus joined in.

"Anyways," I said, after we had finished laughing, "Aren't candy canes supposed to be hung on trees or whatever? That's where I always see them."

"But that's silly! How would you eat them?" Bartz asked.

"Well, you eat them after. Like popcorn garlands or cookie ornaments." Tidus responded. "But the thing is, I never did that, cause Jecht used to eat them all the time."

"Yeah. Zack used to eat them before I even got to putting them up." I said.

"Zidane probably would have done that." Bartz grinned. "Well, whatever the case of these candy canes is, they're pretty tasty."

"Yep." Tidus agreed. I nodded and crunched my candy cane, savoring the taste of holidays with friends.

"Ow. I think I really cracked my tooth this time."

I sighed. "Let me see."

_A/N: This was kind of an impromptu one, considering the fact that I just threw it together in about ten minutes. Then again, all of them are impromptu in their own way._

_Bartz, Tidus, and Cloud are a surprisingly fun team to write. It was kind of hard to write this one, though, cause I was trying to dodge the whole Christianity thing. Even though I'm Christian myself, I just don't want to freak out people by forcing ideas onto them about Christmas. Christmas can be celebrated by lots of people, depending on the meaning you put to it._

_Right, off of the debatable stuff. Again, this was pretty fun to write! And, if you're up for it, you can suggest what character I write as next!_

_Reviews are greatly appreciated!_


	13. Day Twelve: Eggnog

**25 Days – Eggnog (Frioniel)**

"Whatcha' doin', Frioniel?" Tidus asked blearily, stumbling over. "You drink any eggnog yet?"

"Er, no. I'm not very fond of it."

"Wha—really?" Tidus handed me his glass. "You should drink some, anyways. It's a party! That's what you're s'pposed to do." He slurred, sitting down hard on the couch.

"Tidus, you probably shouldn't be drinking _any_ eggnog. It has alcohol in it."

"My dad let me drink beers since I was little! I'm fine!" He waved his hands around aimlessly, nearly hitting Mateus on the way over. "Hey, get out of mah way, Matooooose. Sounds like a moose." He laughed. Mateus looked coldly at him.

"Don't do that."

"I just did, didn't I?" Tidus whooped. "Too bad, Matty!"

Nervously, I put Tidus's drink on the table. "Leave him alone, Tidus."

"Why should I? He's a big jerk! Someone should put him in his place!" Tidus balled his hand into a fist and slugged the figure in front of us. Mateus responded by promptly punching the blonde back.

"Yowch!" He exclaimed. "See? What a _jerk!" _He emphasized the last word with a kick.

I held Tidus back as well as I could. "Stop, seriously. You're like, drunk."

"I can take him…" Tidus mumbled incoherently. "He's too weak to do…" His blue eyes slid shut and he slumped over.

"He passed out." Mateus stated taciturnly. "Make sure he doesn't do anything foolish again." He reached out, probably intending to strangle him, but thought better of it.

As Mateus walked away, Jecht walked in. "How much did he have?" I asked.

"Hah. He only had eighteen."

"_Only_ eighteen?" I yelped.

"I've already had twenty three! I'm still ready to go!" He laughed and ambled away. I doubted his last statement, though, as he hit into the wall, muttering an inaudible "sorry, missus."

Tidus shifted drowsily, murmuring, "I can take him. Yeah, take that, Mateus." He nuzzled sleepily into my arms. "I'm tired."

I moved carefully, letting his head fall gently onto my lap. _Only for now_, I thought. Eventually, though, I felt myself getting sleepy myself, and I nodded off, Tidus in my arms.

_A/N: Short, I guess. I wanted to do a mistletoe one, but I decided to save it for later. I _love_ 210. I'm sad there isn't too much fanfiction on them. I suppose I better just contribute lots of 210 love, then. Thank you for the reviews, especially you, __**AquamarineRoses! **__Pinoys for the win~_


	14. Day Thirteen: Wishes for Those We Lost

**25 Days – Christmas Wishes for Those We've Lost (All)**

"Today would have been…" Bartz thought. "The last day that my mom was alive."

"Huh?" Zidane looked at him. "Why are you thinking of something like that?"

"Well, she loved Christmas. You know, it was her favorite holiday, aside from her birthday." The mime ran his hand through his brown hair. "I wish I could tell her 'Merry Christmas.'" He sighed, leaning back and staring at the stars. "I hope she can hear me. And Dad, too. Even Galuf." They sat, noiselessly.

"Palom and Porom." Cecil stated abruptly. "They were fond of Christmas as well. They sacrificed themselves for my team. For that, I'm grateful. I also want to wish them a Merry Christmas."

"Aerith." Cloud murmured. "Zack."

"Auron and Mom." Tidus mumbled, tears in his bright blue eyes. Yuna patted him comfortingly, though she had begun to cry as well.

"Father." She whispered. Terra glanced over, her own hands enfolding over her heart.

"The people of Mobliz."

"My friends…" Squall trailed off.

"Josef and Scott." The weaponsmaster bowed his head.

"The Warriors of Dark." Luneth said.

"Vivi." Zidane spoke quietly.

"Reks." Vaan closed his eyes, anger and sorrow mingling in his heart.

"Mother and Father." Lightning susurrated.

"My companions." Light said.

All of the warriors gazed up at the stars, hearts heavy with nostalgia.

"Our friends." Bartz spoke. "Our families. We can still wish them a Merry Christmas." The mime whispered a Fire spell, starting a small blaze. He pulled paper from his pocket and began to write. "Dear Mom and Dad. Galuf, too." He read aloud. "I miss you a lot, but I know you're safe, wherever you are. Think of me and Boko every once in a while. Merry Christmas, and I love you." Most were shocked into silence as Bartz dropped the paper in the fire. "Now they'll get the card."

"Palom, Porom. You were wonderful to be around. Thank you for helping our team. I will never be able to thank you enough. Merry Christmas, my friends." Cecil penned.

"Zack and Aerith, you were amazing and inspiring people. I hope your flowers bloom up there. Happy Holidays." Cloud closed his eyes, writing with intensity and emotion.

Tidus grabbed a piece of paper and jotted feverishly. "Mom, Auron. Merry Christmas. I wanted to get you presents, but this card will have to do. I love you, Mom. You too, Auron."

"My dear father…"

"People of Mobliz."

"Ellone—no. Big sis."

"Josef, Nelly, and Scott. Rest assured that we wish you a Merry Christmas."

"I didn't know you too well, Warriors of Dark, but may your days be merry and bright."

"Vivi, my heart goes out to you, my best buddy. Don't forget me, cause I won't forget you. Merry Christmas, little guy."

"Reks, you were my best friend and the best brother I could ever have."

"Mom, Dad. Serah and I are fine, and I wish you both a heartfelt Merry Christmas. From…Claire Farron."

"To my fellow warriors who had helped me along my journey, I thank you all."

Each in turn, dropped their papers into the fire, watching the papers crumple into ash, and the ash rise into smoke. Their words seemed to rise up, like whispers of quietude, each sending a message they could not send themselves.

"Merry Christmas, everyone."

The tears that were shed were in respectable silence; even though they cried, their hearts were light, knowing that the ones they loved would receive their wishes.

_A/N: A more serious one. I decided to throw Vaan and Yuna in there, too. Even though I'm rather fond of serious scenes, light ones are more fun to write. I'll probably go back to that tomorrow._

_You know, I didn't play all the Final Fantasy games, so I had to look up a lot of stuff. But, I guess this one's something I can be proud of._

_EDIT: Ah, in response to InhaledCorn, I always imagined people getting pulled from their worlds at different times. So, I decided that Cecil should have been pulled from his world before Palom and Porom came back, because really, I didn't think Tellah would be someone that would enjoy Christmas like kids would._


	15. Day Fourteen: Caroling in the Streets

**25 Days – Caroling in the Streets (Squall)**

"Ring-a-ling, hear them ring, soon it will be Christmas Day~" Tidus sung, a little off-key, but very heartfelt—shortly after, he switched to a different song. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la…lally."

"What?" I questioned the use of his lyrics.

"It rhymes better." He proclaimed, continuing to switch from song to song. "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…in lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you. Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with…the angels sing, glory to the newborn King…I wish for peace on earth and goodwill…to all and to all a good night!" Tidus finished triumphantly.

"We should go caroling some time." Cloud spoke, attempting to finish the last of the stitches on a scarf. "Isn't that a pretty classic Christmas thing to do?"

"I dunno, you guys. I'm not a fantastic singer." I said, adjusting my coat. "You should just leave me here." I gestured to the apartments.

"No way, Squall. You're not getting out of this one!" Tidus bounced up and down excitedly.

"Well, you should join in with us." Cloud stated plainly. We all stopped in front of Light's room in the apartments. "Right. Here goes."

"Hark the herald, angels sing…" Cloud and Tidus sung together. I mouthed the words as well as I could, not wanting to risk singing.

"Squall, Cloud, Tidus? What are you doing?" Light opened his window.

"Caroling. Peace on earth and mercy mild." Cloud said without missing a beat.

"God and sinners reconciled." Tidus finished. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas?" Light responded.

"Yeah, on to Frioniel!" Tidus jumped, and spun his way over to room 302.

"Squall, you choose." Cloud handed the book of songs to me.

"Er, 'Winter Wonderland.'" I gave the book back, but he pushed it back into my hands.

"You have to sing, too."

"No thank you."

"Really, you can't sing that badly."

"You'd be surprised."

"Oh, stop you guys! Let's just sing. Squall, try your best!" Tidus smiled.

"Alright." Cloud looked quickly in the book. "Sleigh bells ring. Are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening."

"A beautiful si~ight, we're happy toni~ight, wa-lking in a winter wonder—land." Tidus sang out. "Your turn, Squall!"

"No way."

"Don't ruin it." He pouted.

"OK." I said, relinquishing. "I'll do it." I sucked in a deep breath.

As the following noise that emitted from deep within my vocal cords capacity can't really be described, I'll substitute with what it would look like if I had written it down.

"A*&%$#^$%*&$^%^$$#!$%YU^$%I&*^$%#%!#$WUYUG KTJVRDETBHU!"

That's about the closest as I can approximate.

"Goodness." Tidus breathed. "You've got quite the tone."

"Ow." Was all Cloud could manage. "That was…"

"Incredible! You just need a little work on your diction!" Tidus exclaimed. "Oh my goodness, try again!"

Again, I will substitute with the lettering.

"&^&$&$%#%#YKJG BYUTPIOJGJHFUY*UUTUJFYRE%$UYIH!"

"Marvelous!" Tidus clapped. I have no idea how he thought that it was proper for anyone to have that sort of a noise come from them, but he was delighted.

"What's with all the noise?" Frioniel opened his door. "Oh. Hey, Tidus, Cloud, Squall. You have any idea what the random sound was just now?"

"Random? Why, that's Squall's marvelous voice!"

"Er—!"

"Yeah." Cloud said plainly. "Pretty great, huh?"

"S-sure." Frioniel looked incredibly confused.

"Right, let's finish!" Tidus yelled. "Gone away is the bluebird! Here to stay, stay, stay is the new bird! He sings a love so~ong as we go alo—ong, wa—lking in a winter wonder—land." Frioniel clapped politely.

"OK, let's move on." Cloud's bright mako-eyes looked down the row of rooms. "Five more to go."

Luneth and Terra were conclusively rather confused as well. Cecil was polite enough not to plug his fingers into his ears. Bartz and Zidane were overjoyed.

"Wow! He's incredible!" Zidane hopped from foot to foot.

"His diction just needs a bit of work!" Bartz hopped as well.

"You guys…" Cloud trailed off.

"I know, right?" Tidus shouted, rushing over to hop along with the genome and the mime.

"I'll never understand them."

"Me neither." I replied. "Oh well. Guess that's the way they'll always be."

Moral of the story: Only incredibly strange but entertaining people like Bartz, Zidane, and Tidus can understand Squall's true singing.

_A/N: This was so fun to write. This came out in like, two minutes. It was so weirdly fun! I can't even stand it! Tidus and Bartz and Zidane have magical ears, because they can understand Squall's singing power—or rather, decipher it. They're amazing._


	16. Day Fifteen: The Pride of a Father

**25 Days – The Pride of a Father (Jecht)**

I yawned, stretching my arms into the starry night sky. "Ten days till Christmas." Tunelessly, I hummed a carol, dropping a present into a gift bag.

"Hey, Jecht." Zidane sat down next to me, his tail waving energetically in the air. "What did you get me?"

"Not gonna tell ya, kid."

"Aww."

"Don't be a whiner." I plopped another gift into a bag, tossing that into a pile. "Alright. That's all of Chaos's side." I began to package Light's gift.

"Whoah, you actually bothered to buy stuff for us?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You seemed like a cheapskate."

"I am."

"What? Then, what's with the nice looking gifts?"

"Made 'em." I grunted, moving onto Frioniel's.

"Wow. For real?"

"Yep." Zidane picked up the car model I had made.

"This is for Luneth?"

"Uh-huh."

"This is cool! You're like, a wizard!" He began to play around with the other models I had created, making _woosh_ing noises. "Whoosh! Fwoosh! Haha!"

"You remind me of Tidus." I thundered abruptly. "Not that it's a bad thing." I added, noticing the look on his face. "Did I scare ya?"

"Terrify is more like it." He relaxed, his tail dropping in relief. "How do I remind you of Tidus?"

"Oh, you know. Special ways. You're both…blonde. With blue eyes." I said absentmindedly.

"And?"

"You're both pretty short."

"Hey! Not really." He gestured for me to continue.

"You both jump around a lot."

"Uh-huh?"

"And you both are crybabies. Hah, just joking." I punched him, earning a wince. "You both are cheerful, you know?"

"Hm." Zidane mused. "You know, I always wondered how it was like to have a dad. To _be_ a dad."

I glanced at him, contemplative. "It's difficult."

"What do you mean?"

"To have a dad. To be a dad." I repeated. "Having a dad is difficult. As if he's pushing you around, and always on your back. Makin' fun of you, you know? And being a dad…it's tough." I shook my head. "You try to help your kid, but not to be too rough or too soft on them. You want to get them through life. To make them better than you were. But after all that, they leave. They get detached. They leave you. And after all you did for them…" I stopped. "Tidus. I'm just afraid to treat him badly, after everything that happened. I'm worried that the second we get close, like a dad and a son should be, he'll leave. Forget about me. Kind of like what I did to him." I ended bitterly.

"Well, not really." Zidane spoke. "Tidus really loves you. He looks up to you. He wishes that you guys could spend time together. And most of all, he misses you."

"Huh?"

"Look at it this way. Tidus pretty much adores you, and you're afraid to love him back. You're afraid to be his dad, cause you're afraid you'll get hurt. But he'll come back to greet you. He's never gonna forget you, _cause_ you're his dad. And anyways," Zidane grinned cheekily, "even if he didn't come back on his own, he'd be forced to come back during the holidays."

I laughed heartily. "You're right." I rubbed his head. "Zidane, you're a good kid." He smiled. I took Tidus's gift—a movie sphere—and began to wrap it.

"What's that?"

"This thing? It's a movie sphere. I didn't really make this one. I mean, I filmed it and all, but…" Zidane took it carefully from my hand, activating it.

"Hey, Tidus." My voice crackled over the shaky filming. "First, I wanna say, Merry Christmas." The me on the screen fumbled with notes. "I also want to say that…you make me proud. Every day that you accomplish things, I feel prideful that you…" I scanned the notes, nearly dropping the movie sphere. "Yowch. I feel prideful that you can stand on your own. You've really grown, Tidus. And in a good way, too. Hah. Haha!" I laughed brashly. "Well, you've really grown, more than I can say. You're my son. You're also more than that. So, be proud of yourself, kid." Awkward silence. "I…uh, love you. Tidus." The screen flickered and turned dark.

"That's sweet." Zidane said, plunking the movie sphere back into the bag. "It's good. To have family on Christmas."

"Yeah."

_A/N: I love Jecht. It's really hard to write as him, though._

_Jecht has such a hard time expressing himself to Tidus that I thought it might be good if I wrote it awkwardly. But they're so cute as a family~_

_Thanks for all the reviews, everyone! Ten days left!_


	17. Day Sixteen: One Day, Two Loves

**25 Days – One Birthday Down (Light)**

"Cosmos." I strode over to her. "Your birthday is today, isn't it?"

"Yes." She replied. "Indeed, it is."

"Then…" I rummaged through my pocket, pulling out a necklace. "Happy Birthday, Cosmos."

She seemed surprised. "Oh? For me?"

"Of course." She took it slowly, graciously, and put it on.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." I nodded, feeling heat rising through my face.

"Goodbye." I said abruptly, walking out of the door. I sighed happily once I was out of earshot. She had liked my gift! She had really liked it!

"What are you swooning about, Light?" Luneth tapped me on the shoulder. "You get something for Cosmos already?"

"Mm-hmm." I nodded.

"Wow. I wish I had that much courage."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, well, you know Terra, of course." He shuffled his feet. "And you know, Terra and I…and…we…" He twiddled his fingers. "I just don't seem to have the courage to even talk to her anymore! I'm so anxious that she won't like my gifts."

I blinked. "What is there to be afraid of?"

"Well, I'm sure she doesn't really even know…that I…"

"That you…?" I queried.

"That I kinda sorta like her?" He ended it as a question. "No, not really kinda, I like her! A lot! I—oh gosh—I even told the cashier that she was my…"

"What do you mean by like?" I interrupted.

"The way you like Cosmos!" He blurted passionately.

"O-oh." I glanced nervously at Cosmos's door. "I understand." I kneeled down so as to be at his level. "You know, Terra is really very fond of you. She, ah, likes you. A lot." I repeated.

"What? Really?" His eyes shone with almost a childlike innocence. "How do you know?"

"Everyone knows."

"Whaaat?" He exclaimed. "So I was the only one who didn't know?"

"Other than Terra herself."

He bounced up and down on his heels. "Should I tell her? Whoa, uh, maybe—I think I'll tell her come Christmas! No, maybe earlier! Maybe tomorrow!" He raced around. "Thanks, Light!" He practically flew down the hallway. "This is like a Christmas miracle!" Luneth shouted.

"Ah, love." I sighed. "How sweet."

_A/N: Not as much Christmas oriented as I was originally shooting for. Oh well. I got to fit some 36 in there, so it's all good._


	18. Day Seventeen: Poinsettia

**25 Days – Poinsettia (Yuna)**

"Yuna, so, what's a poinsettia? Like, what does it mean?" Tidus twirled the flower in his hand.

"Oh, it's supposed to mean good cheer. Mirth. Celebration." I picked one up as well, spinning it like Tidus did. "And there's a story behind it."

"Let's hear it!" He grinned endearingly at me. "I'm always up for a story!"

"Alright. So, it goes like this."

_There was once a little girl who lived in the woods. Her name was Yuna, and she was very poor. Her friends Wakka, Lulu, Rikku, and Tidus played with her all the time. But, she was a Summoner, so she always had important things to do at the sanctuary. She never could play with her friends as long as she liked. One day—in fact, it was Christmas Day—she had an idea. Why not invite her friends to the temple? Then they could play with each other and see the beautiful statues that lined the walls. But the entire shrine was made of hard stone and marble, though. It was not colorful at all, save for the flowers that were put in front of the doors. Yuna thought long and hard about this, deciding then, that she would pick blossoms to put in the temple. Alas, the girl could only find weeds growing in the cold weather. Determined not to let her idea go to waste, she gathered the prickly unwanted plants and resolutely marched to the temple. When her friends saw her, they waved and said that the weeds were beautiful, even if they were tiny and unwanted. Because the plants saw how friendly the people were, and how much the shrine needed color, they bloomed into dazzling red flowers, like the stars that shone above the children._

"Aww, that's adorable!" Tidus exclaimed, bouncing. "The little girl gets her flowers, and it's like, Christmas magic!"

"Yes, and it reminds us about friendship. And devotion." I smiled.

"Yeah, friends like me!" He joked. We laughed, and the stars seemed to wink at us—or maybe they were winking at their fellow flowers down at earth.

_A/N: Oh goodness, does time fly! I can't wait for Christmas, but I want to keep writing this fanfic! It's so much fun!_

_This one's based off of an actual myth about the poinsettia. Of course, it doesn't have Yuna or her friends in it, but who would pass up the chance to put their names in? Not me, of course._


	19. Day Eighteen: Lights on the Roofs

**25 Days – Lights On the Roofs (Zidane)**

I was actually pretty fond of climbing up to the roof, to spend time with Bartz and Squall, and in the summer, we would eat popsicles and watch birds fly past. But in the winter, it was usually full of snow, so we couldn't go up. Bartz, though, had gone up to cast a Fire spell so we could still sit up there and see stars.

"Bartzy!" I called, sitting down. "Where are ya?"

Suddenly, he popped up from behind me. "Ziddy!" He pulled me up. "Check it out! Look at the lights!" We ran, laughing as we slipped on some melted snow, and leaned precariously over the railing.

"Wow! It's beautiful." I gazed upon the illuminations sprinkled through the town. The multi-colored pinpricks seemed to shine like the stars in the sky, winking happily at us.

"I mean, look at it." He sighed. "It's like a light show, just for us." We let our eyes skim over the scatterings of decorations on all the roofs. "Aren't we lucky? Here we are. No one else looking. And we get all this to ourselves."

"Not exactly." Cloud said, blowing breath into the air, making swirling mists. "_Somebody_ woke me up cause he heard you two tromping around up here."

Squall elbowed him. "No, I honestly wanted to see what you guys were making a racket about."

"The lights!" Bartz nearly did a cartwheel with how overjoyed he was. "Now we get to share it with them—the prettiness of it all."

"It is nice-looking, huh?" Cloud leaned over the railing.

"Yep." Squall spoke laconically.

I puffed breaths into the sharp air, seeing the smoke rise into the sky. "That's part of what it's all about—sharing."

"Mm-hmm." Bartz smiled.

We gazed at the lights for as long as we could, before returning into our rooms, hues imprinted on our closed eyelids.

_A/N: I almost couldn't post this. I'm glad I got it up! Phew._

_OH MY GOSHNESS IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS! I'm so excited! How's everyone else feeling about the season? Final Fantasy love to everyone out there~_


	20. Day Nineteen: The Nutcracker

**25 Days - The Nutcracker (Bartz) (AU)**

"Uncle Garland! Uncle Garland!" I hear the voices resounding through the room, despite the hustle and bustle going on. The paper that covered my face made it hard to see, but "Garland", as his name seemed to be, lifted me out of the box, moving my jaw about.

"What's that, Uncle?" A young girl asked, her tail moving shyly about. "Is it a doll?"

"No, Mikoto. It's a nutcracker. It's for Zidane, but don't worry. You'll get your gift soon."

"For me, Garland?" The boy named Zidane picks me up, holding me to the light. "Wow. It's so cool!" His tail waves briskly in the air, and a smile forms on his face. "Can it really crack nuts and stuff?"

"Oh, any sort." Like magic, the uncle conjures a handkerchief and opens it, walnuts and candied nuts spilling out like a fountain. "Here, try one." Zidane picks one up, spinning it and placing it firmly between my jaws. He presses a lever, and-"Whoa!" He picks up the kernel that comes out of the broken bits. "It really worked!" Others crowd about him, mainly other children. An exuberant boy with tanned skin reaches for me, as does a teenager with a scar running across his face.

"Here, let's try another!"

"Incredible!"

"Another, another!"

Mikoto looks rather depressed, sitting off to the side. She's obviously jealous that Zidane and I are the center of attention. Eventually, she makes a grab for me.

"Enough!" She yells. Suddenly, I slip out of her hand, and-

Oh god. That was incredibly painful. I think my jaw broke open or something. Zidane is yelling, as is Garland. Mikoto is crying and saying she didn't mean to. They comfort her. But what about me? My jaw is fractured!

"We can fix it." Again, Garland whips out a handkerchief, binding my jaw together with the soft cloth. "There, see? I'll fix it properly in the morning." They go to bed. All except for Zidane, who stays near me.

"I'm sorry. Mikoto is, too. Don't be mad at her." He curls up on the couch, cradling me in his arms, his tail wrapped around himself. "You'll be better in the morning."

Time passes. The clock strikes twelve. And there he is-the wretched enemy of mine. Kuja, the Prince of the Darker. The fashonista, as I call him. I spring out of Zidane's hands, unsheathing my sword.

"Kuja!" I yell, charging at him. "This'll be your last stand! I'm way better looking than you!"

"You're no match for my man-thong!" He screams back, rising into the air and shooting magic at me. Unfortunately, my broken jaw, and the bindings come loose, and I practically fall apart.

Zidane seems to have woken up, as he's gaping in shock-or at least, that's what I can see.

"My Nutcracker-!" He gasps. He picks up his shoe, and with surprisingly accurate aim, flings it at the silver haired prince. Kuja flails, off balance, and lands with a heavy thump on the ground. The blonde seems to care very little, as he rushes towards me instead. Carefully, he pieces me back together. "I must be dreaming. How'd you get to my size?" He asks innocently.

"Actually, how did you get to _my_ size?" I shake his hand courteously. "My name's Bartz. Thanks for saving me back there. Kuja's always trying to attack me, and I would've been dead if you didn't throw your shoe." I kneel graciously. "Allow me to thank you. What would you have me do, Zidane?" He smiles happily, his eyes lighting up.

"Give me a piggyback ride!" He yells, hopping on my back and wrapping his tail around my eyes. I trip, but begin laughing, and I run around the room as the blonde whoops with delight.

"Your welcome." I say, letting him dismount.

"Thanks." He beams. "You are pretty cool, huh, Bartz?" I nod, striking a pose, and he claps his hands and laughs. "You weirdo."

"You're the one dreaming this, aren't you?" I reply. I ruffle his hair, and he closes his eyes, falling into another dream.

* * *

><p>"Garland, someone's at the door!" Zidane yells. The uncle walks up to the door and opens it, revealing a pleasant looking person with brown hair and eyes to match.<p>

"Hey, there. I'm Garland's friend." The boy bows slightly. "My name's Bartz. You're Zidane, huh?" He addresses the blonde who clutches a nutcracker in his hands.

"Yeah!" And by then, they can already tell that they will be friends.


	21. Day Twenty: Evergreen Tree

**25 Days - Evergreen Tree (Vaan)**

_A/N: I know, I'm putting the author's note in the beginning this time. You guys must be shocked. Anyways, I'll move on. I might be doing a lot of these story parodies, so sorry if you guys don't like it. Review and tell me yes or no? Or you can just read them~_

_Moving right along._

The cold air was chilly as I trekked through the fallen snow, freezing winds biting my skin. But, I had to move on. How else was I supposed to be a real Sky Pirate if I couldn't brave the weather?

Eventually, I had to stop. The frigid temperatures had dropped too low, and I was ill prepared for a trip through the woods. I tried in desperation to start a fire, vainly rubbing the two sticks I had found. "Come on, come on." I muttered. "Work!" I dropped the sticks in anger. "Whatever!" I yelled, trying not to expend the rest of my energies. I saw a traveler coming my way. "Hey!" I called.

"What?" He had silvery hair and a haughty look upon him. He seemed badly dressed for the weather, but I wasn't one to argue. "What do you want of me, commoner?"

"Can you help me?" I shivered. "It's cold. And I haven't got anything that'll keep me warm." The man laughed.

"Hah, help you? No thank you. _I've_ got more important matters." He flew off. After a few hours, there was another traveler. I hunched myself in, trying to conserve warmth. I raised one arm, trying to catch his attention.

The traveler had warm vestments on, and I assumed he would be more than willing to share. But one look at his brown eyes and scarred face told me otherwise.

By the time night had fallen, I pretty much gave up hope for any help, and I wrapped my arms around myself.

"Why did even do this?"

"Do what?" A calm looking man with a purple cloak fastened to his shirt approached. "Go out into the woods?"

"Yeah." I sighed.

"Well, you look very cold. Would you like me to take you to my home?" He put his cloak around my shoulders. "My name is Cecil, by the way."

"Vaan." I nodded, getting up.

When we had trekked a short way, I caught sight of his house. It was very plain and simple, but surely warm. A pine tree stood near it, along with a juniper and spruce.

Suddenly, a voice seemed to resonate through the wind. "For your kindness..." It breathed. "To a traveler you knew not...I will not destroy your trees, as I had intended."

"Tiamat?" Cecil asked. "She..." He looked at me. "You must have had a blessing invoked on you." He smiled. "Now, come inside." Cecil glanced at the clock when he had stepped inside. "Oh, and Merry Christmas."

_A/N Number Two! : Yay, another one! OK, so sorry for this one being kind of short. Next, uh, this is supposed to parody off of the evergreen trees story. Not very Christmas-y, I know. Sorry._

_Tiamat = Triple Brave Blessing! Get it? Hee~_


	22. Day TwentyOne: The Feeling You Get

**25 Days - The Feeling You Get (All)**

"Kain!" Cecil called, beaming at his friend. "Won't you come join us?" Cecil gestured for Kain to come over. "Our friends are here! Don't keep them waiting!" He joked. The dragoon allowed himself to smile, and strode over.

Surrounded by the cheerful smiles of Tidus, Frioniel, Cloud, and his close companion, Kain felt as if he had finally come home.

* * *

><p>Afterwards, Tidus sat quietly, accompanied by Squall. Tidus was strangely moody, and Squall told him as much.<p>

"Oh. It's my old man."

"Jecht?"

"Yeah. He had work to do, apparently, so I'm pretty much alone." The blonde combed his hair back frustratedly. "I can't believe it. The one night I was going to tell him that-!"

"Kid." Jecht seemed to materialize out of nowhere. "You're looking down."

"Dad?" Tidus seemed almost ready to leap into Jecht's arms. "Dad, you know what?" The blue eyed boy took a deep breath. "I love you."

A tear formed slowly in Jecht's eyes, but he wiped it away with a grunt. "Love you too, son." He hoisted his son onto his shoulder, feeling the bond that he had formed with Tidus.

* * *

><p>Now Squall sat alone, gazing at the dying embers in the flame that had once been. He sighed softly, slightly wishing that he had someone to accompany him.<p>

"SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!" The brunette would recognize Zidane's voice anywhere. "Hey, guess who Bartzy found!"

"Yeah, guess!" The mime added.

"Let's see. Maybe you guys found Boko?" Squall knew that Bartz had been searching for his chocobo for a while.

"No, better!" Zidane exclaimed. "Oh, Laguna~"

"Laguna?" Squall almost groaned aloud. His father was simply a pain in the neck that _would not leave him alone._ Or that's what he told himself. Really, Squall cared very much for his father, but found him to be quite childish.

"Squall." Laguna looked very serious, seemingly scrutinizing son's face. "I want you to have this." The long haired man handed a box to his son. "Go ahead. Open it!"

The scarfaced teen complied, finding a very nice chain and charm. "What...?"

"I won't be here on Christmas. I was looking for you, but you weren't..." He trailed off. "Anyways, Merry Christmas." Laguna chuckled and ruffled his son's hair, a little self-conciously. "Alright, see ya!"

As he strode away, Laguna suddenly was very proud that he had raised such a fine person.

* * *

><p>"Guess who else is here?" Kuja chuckled, coming up from behind his brother.<p>

"Yikes! It's Kuja!" Bartz yelped. "I'm so out of here!"

"Don't leave me alone with...him." Zidane sighed in defeat, seeing his companion run away from the eyesore known as his brother. "Hello, Kuja." He deadpanned.

"Hello, Zidane. I decided that this Christmas, you seemed especially good." Actually, this happened to be the first Christmas that Zidane had not destroyed one of Kuja's things. "And so, I thought I'd give you a little gift."

The blonde's eyes lit up. "A present? Gimme!" He shouted.

The silver-haired genome handed his sibling a game, before turning away.

"Absolute Unreal? You're kidding!" Zidane held it up with much gusto. "Oh my gosh, Kuja, thank-!" His brother was nowhere to be found. "Guess I'll have to thank him next time."

And Zidane decided, as he ran to show off to Bartz, that his brother was not so bad after all.

* * *

><p><em>AN: There's those feelings you get during Christmas, the feeling of being thankful for people you have, and the feeling you belong somwhere. I was trying to capture that in here, I guess._

_I find Tidus and Zidane's to be particularly sweet._


	23. Day TwentyTwo: Angels

**25 Days - Angels We Have Heard on High (Squall)**

I was wrapping an extra present I had gotten for my dad, when I heard it. The sound of someone singing, low, soft, and sweet. Whoever it was, they were singing Christmas carols.

"...Sweetly singing over the plains, and the mountains in reply, echoing their joyous strains." I walked quietly over to the source, finding it to be Room 307. Cloud's room. Boldly, I opened the door.

"Am I interrupting something?" He looked over his shoulder, and finished wrapping his scarf around his neck.

"Nah." He said, gesturing for me to come in. "I was just trying to get in the Christmas mood."

"Huh." I pulled a chair over. "Nice scarf."

"Oh, really?" He fiddled with the cloth. "I'm only wearing it cause it's cold. No heating."

"I noticed." I said. Even with my jacket on, it was still freezing.

"Are you cold?" He asked. "I haven't got another scarf. Sorry." He looked down at his own. "Do you need this?"

"No, I don't want you to catch cold. Not in your own room."

Cloud chuckled. "Oh yes. That would be disgraceful." He pondered, running his hand through his blonde locks. "Ah. I know." He wrapped part of his scarf on my neck. "Now you won't get sick either."

I laughed. "Really?"

"Yep." Cloud nodded, humming a song.

"Christmas carols again?"

"I like 'em. Gets you in the mood. Like I said."

"Too bad I can't sing."

"You're alright."

"No, I'm not. Don't flatter me. I know I sound like some dying animal." I scoffed.

Cloud couldn't help but snigger. "Psh, you're right." He kicked his legs a little. "Maybe I can teach you."

"I don't think anyone could really teach me. I'm tone deaf."

"No one's tone deaf. Alright, let's try 'Deck the Halls.'" He started to sing. "Come on, match the notes."

And with Cloud's scarf partly wrapped around my neck, in a room without heating, I hesitantly joined voices with him.

_A/N: Continuation of Caroling in the Streets? I dunno. Just though I'd write another singing one._

_Oh gosh, I'm so fond of 78. For reals._

_This one's so short. asdfafdakdadfakljhlkjhlkjh I'm running out of ideas._


	24. Day TwentyThree: Misletoe

**25 Days - Misletoe (Terra)**

"Luneth! Could you come over here please?" I asked, trying to balance the boxes in my hands. "Could you help me balance these?"

"Sure!" He ran over. "Woah, these are a little heavy."

"Oh, yes. We'd better move, though." Luneth seemed to be frozen in place, his head tilted upwards. "What is it?"

"There's..." He paused carefully. "Misletoe." I froze as well.

"Misletoe?"

"That means we..." I stopped.

"K-kiss." Luneth stuttered. "Um..."

"We can't just move from under it?"

"No...it's Christmas tradition." Luneth shifted forward slightly. "Close your eyes." I let my eyes slide shut.

I felt his soft lips touch mine for a second before pulling away.

Luneth's face flushed a bright shade of red, as I'm sure mine did.

I took his face, closed my eyes once again, and leaned forward. Sweetly, I touched my lips to his.

"Was that the misletoe?" He asked, his hazel eyes shining.

"No." Boxes forgotten, he wrapped his arms around me in a hug.

_A/N: A sweet fanfic? Misletoe? Woah, this was pretty much obligatory._

_OH MY GOSH CHRISTMAS EVE TOMORROW I'M SO EXCITED_


	25. Day TwentyFour: The Night Before

**25 Days - The Night Before Christmas**

"Do we really have to go to bed? Can't we stay up a _little _longer?" Bartz pleaded with Light.

"No. It is essential that you get sleep and-" He eyed Zidane. "And that you do _not_ cause disruption for those who are trying to get sleep." Zidane pouted.

"Just that once that we set up the firecrackers, and now he beats on me all the time." He grumbled. Tidus bounded up to Light.

"Oh, we'll be quiet if we can please please please _please_ stay up!" Tidus jumped desperately. "We won't get to see Santa!"

Light was about to respond by saying that there _was_ no Santa, when Frioniel gave him a dangerous look, and he stopped.

Frioniel came over wearily. "You know, it's already ten o'clock. He's probably going to be here later. So just sleep till you see him."

"But doesn't Santa come to this address at like, twelve thirty two?" Zidane asked.

"Yeah, we checked!" Luneth piped.

"Just GO TO SLEEP!" Jecht thundered, taking another swig of his drink. "Enough arguing or I'll hit all of you with a Jecht Shot!" Tidus knew it was about time to give up, so he stomped dejectedly to his door.

"Come on…" Luneth sighed, rubbing his head.

The doors shut with a slow, sad click.

_Beep. _"Bartz!"

"Yep?"

"We've gotta stay up!"

"I'll sneak over." _Click._ The door opened, and Bartz shut his cell phone. "Yo."

"You got any coffee?"

"Mm-hmm." He opened up a thermos. "Want some?"

"No, I just asked for it. Yeah, of course."

"Pfft. Here, we gotta call Luneth and Tidus."

They arrived shortly afterwards. "Yo, sexy just came back!" Tidus announced as he opened the door.

"So, let's stay awake, huh?" Luneth said, sitting casually on the ground.

* * *

><p>A clatter rose from the front.<p>

"Huh?" Zidane slurred, getting up and rubbing his eyes. "What's the time?"

Tidus responded, "Twelve thirty two." He paused. "Twelve thirty two!"

Luneth pulled out his sword. "Give me a second."

"Are you trying to murder Santa?" Bartz nearly yelled.

"Well, it might be a robber or something!" He popped open the door and slipped out. After a short while, Tidus, Bartz, and Zidane followed.

Luneth seemed to be staring in shock at the roof. "Luneth." Zidane shook him. "Hey what's the problem?"

"It's…it's…it's…"

"Squall?" Bartz and Zidane yelled.

"Squall is Santa?" Bartz yelped confusedly. The stoical faced man only whistled, egging on his sleigh of chocobos.

"Now Pochi, now Raven, now Yuna and Raine! On Cloudy, on Lior, on Flavius and Blaine!" Squall called.

Without a word, the gunblade wielder searched for a chimney, but upon finding none, he jumped into the incinerator.

"What?" Tidus leaned over the edge. "Isn't that the incinerator?" A resounding thump echoed from Tidus's room. Tidus hurriedly ran over, Luneth, Bartz, and Zidane in tow. "Are you OK? How'd you even get here?" Luneth set down the first aid kit he had brought.

"Christmas magic." Squall opened up his bag, and Bartz's eyes sparkled happily.

"You got presents for us!"

"Yeah. Catch." He tossed presents at them.

"Awesome!" Zidane exclaimed, shaking it mercilessly.

"Be quiet. I gotta do my work." Squall said, hauling his bag over to Exdeath (their Christmas tree.) "Go to sleep. You guys already saw me." He turned and winked. "Merry Christmas."

* * *

><p>"Did we sleep through it?" Bartz asked, stretching and rubbing his eyes.<p>

"Guess we did." Luneth said, a little depressed.

"Oh…" Zidane gasped a little. "No, we didn't." He held up the present he had been cradling.

"Squalllll!" But the lion was nowhere to be found.

"Guess we'll thank him later." Tidus said happily. "Race you to the tree!"

"You're on!"

_A/N: THIS WAS HARD TO WRITE. WHY. I feel as if I started strong on this fanfic and I'm ending weakly. ;^;_

_Oh well. Merry Christmas Eve~_


End file.
